"Her horses made out of Steel and Crystal trampled men and beasts without mercy. Her weapons were loud as thunder and fast as Lighting broke our Morale as the ground spilled men hidden in its depths. And above all else her maddening laugh of bloodlust as she cut people down. Infernal made manifest in the mortal coil"
Anonymous's account of the battle for Wulfgrem.
William sat in his chair writing more and more reports and treaties. It had been a week ever since the storm hit his city and his expectations of a decrease in paperwork were rudely crushed by the reality of a major magical disaster.
The newly placed castle wards were running 24/7. An idea Lucrezia gave him was to make the castle a "beacon of hope" for the populace who were locked in their homes or underground.
Another bit of bad news was the fact Ice Sprites were attacking his caravans near the entrance of the Highway. More and more men were being deployed together with his newly formed cadre of battle mages trained by Wilson. William was pleased to hear Hideo was made the first Mage Captain of this new order and his people were already driving those apparitions back.
"God fuck Ice Sprites" he cursed as he kept writing. the howling wind crashing against the wards creating this low-level humming white noise making sure William never had a minute of true peace and quiet.
Reports of his scouts told that the many communities and farms of his Duchy were being shielded by their own minor deities. Word of his deeds in the city had already spread even among the outliers and he was due a visit from the druid of the frozen wastes. Likely a test to see if he was going to do as many Wulfgrem had tried before and conquer that piece of gods forgotten ice and rock.
William had plans for the wastes, but they didn't involve marching his Knights and Army there. No, he planned to sell that place to a particular group of people he would make friends with when he reached the Academy.
A chill went through William's spine. The Academy was looming closer by the day and Lucrezia's memories were starting to bleed over his own at a pace so fast he could barely keep track of them without having to meditate for hours. The same is happening with the young woman trapped inside of his soul as she experienced his own memories as her.
The message was clear for William, whatever or whoever did this wanted Lucrezia to be "in charge" since she wasn't experiencing his memories from his point of view. A mechanism to avoid detection from the forces in charge to protect this particular Universe from intruders perhaps? William knew from the game's own lore that the All-Father employed a Goddess to do both recon and diplomatic jobs across other universes called Wynnur.
And that was the extent of his knowledge, the game only had the damn thing's name and what she did. No churches No hidden priests for side quests nothing but a bloody name. And what would happen if perchance he got an audience with the Goddess?
William would set things right.
He had already prepared a diary with everything he could remember from the game for Lucrezia, who to talk to and what to do for maximum profit and knowledge gain should she feel inclined to do so. Achievements that would have her hailed as a national hero and dodge any tricks the other political factions of Vermillion could throw at her and unless the Queen herself came for her head, Lucrezia would live the good life to the end of her days.
As for him? He would try his best to go home of course. It wouldn't be the same of course he wasn't daft. William had done unspeakable deeds here and they would haunt him for the rest of his days. The reveal that his planet, that Earth had divinities ready to judge him the second he kicked the bucket was the only not so horrible part of this proposed deal. As long as they don't delete him from existence for knowing too much that is.
No good ending for him, if he made it back home there would be no hero's welcome, and being forgotten to the sands of time was the best thing he could hope for when it came to endings.
That is if even managed to go back to Earth. Odds were that he would either become a soul entity, not unlike a lich, or just get sent to the Long Queue. The world's version of purgatory where souls of the dead would wait in a queue to be judged. Ever since this cursed storm began William's thoughts were dark and brooding as if the very air was tinged with despair.
He was also being outright assaulted by nightmares, every day without pause. They all had the same theme; Him losing his personality and memories to the soul meld and becoming a gestalt entity with Lucrezia. He didn't know if she shared that fear with him but something about losing himself terrified William, something fierce. He would wake up screaming in mad fury and it took a solid minute for him to calm down.
The more he suppressed his emotions and urges the stronger the bite of his nightmares got. He was keenly aware that this was not a battle he could win with his current game plan but everything, every single goddamn thing that would help him was locked away in the Academy! It was deeply frustrating for William to see himself being flayed little by little with the solution just outside of his reach!
Sacrifice everything for his people, be it the mind, body, or soul. That was what gave William strength in these moments of weakness. He would set things right with Lucrezia and the Duchy. He would claw that win for them be it via tooth and nail or guns and magic. It was the right thing to do, the only thing to do.
Gods help him; it was the only thing he could do without going insane.
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Saa'ryu watched as her Lady trained against a Cadre of Knights and Mages. The young woman ducking and weaving spells with martial arts like she was born for war. Her more "extreme" tendencies were kept in check thanks to the Druid's potions and Erwin's rigorous training.
Thanks to her little reunion with The Owl she now had access to critical information on the First's Prince army. She was happy to find out the man couldn't hire the war hero-led Crimson Yeagers. Lu talked a lot of her "morale breaking" cannons but Saa'ryu was doubtful it would be enough to break those mercs. She also found out that the Queen and King were taking a very hands-off approach for the whole thing. It was Galius's duty and his alone, if the man needed help he would be getting it from his own faction, not the Royals.
Good news for everyone. Gods forbid actually fighting Royal Knights, the battlemages trained by the Arch-Mage's themselves would be just enough that Lucrezia's newly bought shield that was the Arch-Duke's faction political help wouldn't be enough to brand her an enemy of the Kingdom and result in civil war or worse, getting kicked from the Arch-Duke's camp and having the entire country come to kill them.
At that point they might as well throw their lot with the Elves from Grannarius or the Imperium. But Saa'ryu didn't have the heart to raise those options yet.
It was thanks to her old ties to Owl that she found out the extent of Galius's sphere of influence in the whole Kingdom. His faction had masterfully played their hands and turned what would be a not so uncommon case of despots being put to the sword into a nightmarish version where Lucrezia was just in the wrong as her parents. Giving him just enough leeway for this "punitive force" of his.
Still, with no support from Uumaries, the Goddess managed to "clear" her name for the time being. Word on the wire was that Morugarius had vouched for her and that had cooled the fires from Friede who was on the hunt for more cities to burn. Saa'ryu often heard the news from her own spy network that Friede's influence was still strong in the populace. Which meant the Goddess was waiting for Lucrezia to point her again into the parts Uumaries didn't like the sun shining.
A noble with power over the one Goddess that hates them like they are hellspawn. Saa'ryu couldn't believe the power Lu had amassed these short few months. And it would all grow tenfold when the young woman received her blessings.
She felt Lucrezia's gaze fall upon her and a tingle on her neck told her she was deep in her Battle Lust. Saa'ryu was no stranger to the lust-filled gaze as she had more than once masqueraded herself as a whore to kill her targets. Years of muscle memory were almost begging her to stick the pointy end of her dagger but she held herself back. Watching as Lucrezia came off the high.
Poor girl, so young and with a burden very few could remedy. Saa'ryu had asked the Owl if there was any medicine in the faraway lands to the east but the man told her that nothing short of breaking a deal with Saal'Xhir would be enough for Lucrezia's condition, but that would be for naught as the woman has a Greater Blessing waiting for her after all, She was stuck with that. Even if she became a Higher Succubus.
One thing had caught Saa'ryu completely off guard on the other hand. While in the underground arena Lucrezia had made for entertainment to the masses and training she was approached by one of Saa'ryu's sisters-in-craft when both caught Lucrezia doing moves that looked very similar to their own. With her increased mastery over her Magnetism powers, Lucrezia was doing a gauntlet of movement skills she herself had built together with a few dwarves who were bored out of their skulls in the nearby bar since the gladiator fights were on hold for a week.
What followed was a merry show by the dwarfs and then Lucrezia's running and jumping like a Dire Spider. Saa'ryu contacted The Owl and asked if he would be willing to teach her Lady.
The man said yes. When Lucrezia heard the news she gave both her and her sister-in-craft a big hug. It felt nice.
In not-so-good news, the Ice Sprites had mutated into Ice Wraiths and were hammering into a section north of the tunnels that could freeze half the underground city should it collapse. More and more people were sent to fight those cursed abominations by the day and it was a grim sight to behold the few times Saa'ryu went there to check things out. Still with the Imperials using their healing miracles the fight halted to a battle of attrition, neither side giving in an inch.
Saa'ryu feared Lu would take matters into her own hands if the battle would escalate again.
As the days rolled by, the shock of Winter's End washed away as the people moved with renewed purpose underground. Thanks to the underground port being so close many of Hraax's people came to ease the populace's worries and boredom. Theater, Music, Food, the aforementioned Arena gave the people of Wulfgrem plenty to relax and entertain themselves.
And thanks to Lucrezia's outstanding offers to the church of Saal'Xhir, the criminal underbelly of the city was almost all under their thumb. Their brothel church had a vice grip in all matters illegal and gray in the city now. More coin for the coffers.
As for grain and meat, they were enough for everyone so far. The bounty of the sea brought by Hraax's people shoring up what would be a lean Winter's End into just enough to keep people well fed. The steam pipes from the dwarves underground fortress were also working better than expected, so much in fact a few were diverted to the outside in the waystation's entrance to the underground and now Silverbrand's people didn't have to freeze their souls off in the stretch of land that leads to the entrance.
Watching all this effort the entire city and their Allies had put their backs into it for months gave Saa'ryu no small amount of pride and happiness, so strong it was that she got emotional enough to shed a few tears of happiness and relief. Lu's mad plan had worked and they were thriving! no longer would the people of Wulfgrem suffer for after this godsdamned storm blew over a new era of progress awaited them. Brought by the biggest alliance of Gods and Goddesses of all walks of life, together with Science and Magi-Tech.
Saa'ryu could see, ten years from now, how much the land she called home would be better. All thanks to the one person she swore her life to and the legions upon legions who decided to follow her into the uncertain future.
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Thanks to his training in the arcane with Wilson, William finally had the tools to commit more intellectual fraud. A hard-to-master spell called Mind's eye that existed in a gray zone between Illusion, Mind magic, and regular Arcane construct allowed mages to flawlessly remember a spell. Allowing William to remember several books he had read along the years.
The first to copy? Lord of the Ring of course. God knows no one in this world would be able to top that off in the years to come since the same happened on Earth after all. And so between his paperwork and workout regime, he began the illegal labor of copying the thing 1 to 1 since he didn't feel it was his right to "improve" the classic like he had read a few fictions when it came to Earth's works of fiction.
This break didn't last, however, as he received news of a Greater Ice Wraith hammering away at the tunnels. He consulted with both Lucrezia and the Ice Spirits who both told him he was needed there to boost the morale of the grunts.
And so William donned the masterpiece made by Idun, Emilya, and himself. A form-fitting suit of armor made out of Obsidian, Mythril, and Enchanted Ice. Tinged in dark blue and silver it looked the perfect blend of futuristic and practical, the only part William wasn't a big fan of was the forget, the damn thing just didn't sit right with him for no reason since like the rest of his new armor it was form-fitting.
Together with the visual upgrade came a plethora of he would call quality of life improvements, such as special compartments where he stored iron dust and rods for manipulation, the Enchanted Ice allowed him to cast faster Ice Spear and Ice Missile spells plus greater resistance to any sort of ice-based attack as well while the Obsidian's high overall resistances made William a mini siege engine.
He would be needing every edge he could get against Galius after all.
The Spirits took their item forms as William took the underground path from the castle to the front, At his side, both Saa'ryu and Emilya who also had new Magi-Tech gear made for them. Emilya in particular had a weapon few used, the sword-staff. A weapon used by a now-defunct order of High Elven paladins from Kehheim. A gift from the Emissary from those lands who saw in the young princess a chance to "educate" and "culturally elevate" their southern brethren.
The weapon allowed the Elven Princess to fight with both Mana and Ki techniques. And while William couldn't personally vouch for her real-life battle prowess, she was a decent NPC ally in the game.
Commander Veronica and the Sorceress from Magenta Squad Zulihee met with them as they arrived in the underground station that led castle workers to the center of the underground city. There they were briefed by Serkj who was shoring up the defenses of the whole place should the Greater Wraith break through the line. Armed men everywhere as he hailed a carriage to deliver William to the frontlines.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"The princess wants to fight? My what a lovely day!" Zulihee spoke, her voice dripping with mockery behind her veil "Tell me did you fall for the little hooman lordling? daydreaming of fucking her silly with that sword of yours aren't you?" William was going to speak up before Veronica pulled her sword and pointed at the sorceress's throat hissing as she spoke.
"Watch your tone Zuli, before I slap your worthless head and send it to the Principality" her blade drew blood, it looked pale blue.
Emilya herself didn't speak a word. William stared at her face and it was like the whole thing didn't happen.
"This is either something that happens daily for them or Emilya here is made out of Ice, either way, you better deal with Veronica " Lucrezia told him as William took stock of the situation.
"Will this be an issue Veronica?" He asked in a neutral tone.
The elven woman heated her sword and hissed "No" Zulihee gave a small chuckle as she cast a healing spell. The rest of the ride was uneventful.
As they arrived at the final checkpoint William heard the moans and screams of wounded soldiers and Knights. William approached Sigrún who was tending to the men and asked for any casualties. According to the woman, no one died yet but the wounds the Wraiths were inflicting could have lasting effects up to a month, thankfully the Imperial priests had Miracles tailor-made against Elemental Wraiths attacks and thus the deadlock grew even fiercer.
William took time to cheer some of the people around him. The mood went up fast as he made the rounds with his new armor and the Spirits Regalia. He took a pause near a resting post and Emilya walked up to him, she sat down and sighed.
"Zulihee hates me, hates dad and mom. But she's loyal to Veronica and the Magenta on the account Veronica saved her from some slaver's sex den anyway, she hates nobles and I'm an easy target for her teasing" Emilya sighed again.
"Will she fight?" William asked
Emilya nodded "She will, you don't need to worry about that part. Now let's go"
"FIRE" William screamed as his men opened fire against a wave of Ice Wraiths, together with Emilya jumped into the fray slashing and stabbing the ones who survived the barrage trying to bait the Greater Wraith out of its hiding spot.
Emilya fought like a Vanguard on speed, from her person she conjured Magi-Tech after Magi-Tech items to stall, kill or blow the Wraiths up like a magical detective gadget. All the while she screamed war cries and rallied a veritable legion of Imperials, Vanguardsmen, and Wulfgrem Soldiers. Her Sword Staff slashed and cast fireballs every 10 seconds or so.
Zulihee on the other hand brought the pain only a Granarius's magic-user could. A mix of ritual-based magic and regular spells made William's Acolytes green with envy. The Deep Elf would also fly around dropping fireballs the size of a car ensuring maximum damage to the Wraiths who focused on her every time she took flight and began laughing like a mad witch on the hunt.
William together with Veronica and Saa'ryu formed the tip of the spear as they pushed towards the Wraith's spawning grounds, Winter's End pressing on them like a wall of Ice, wind, and snow. Still, they fought Valiantly William using his iron to inflict more damage to the Wraiths. His iron halo now acting as a makeshift crossbow as he fired iron spikes into his enemies.
It was a shame he couldn't cast fire magic, but alas Lucrezia was attuned to Ice, and until he had enough mana to tap into the electromagnetism part of his powers he was stuck with pure mana spells and Ice ones when it came to anything above "shoot a projectile at your enemy" complexity-wise. And when the wraiths got too close? his handy Dragonbone Ax was always ready to cleave foes in half.
Veronica together with Saa'ryu fought like a whirlwind of death, the Windreaver title clean to anyone watching as the elven captain stood up against the storm itself via sheer skill and magical power. Unlike Emilya the woman fought without uttering a word. Nay even a grunt, just the constant sound of the wind around her. Saa'ryu used stealth as always, darting in and around Veronica and William to get a hit in and then clocking back to the snow.
They ducked as William gave another order for the second Volley Shot, scores of Wraiths going down as the bigger ones began firing at the gunmen from the distance, nailing quite a few in their trenches.
Zulihee jumped upwards and held herself in the air to spot those and with a mighty pull cast the biggest fireball yet, William wanted to call the damn thing a meteor but he saw no rock. Just pure blue flame that melted wraths, snow, and even the ground itself as the thing burned.
Emilya had finished her part of the onslaught and formed up together with William as the Sorceress descended from the sky laughing "I can feel the Greater Wraith hooman, It's coming and it is mighty pissed off!"
A sonic boom went off 100 meters off to William's side as Veronica and Zulihee cursed loudly. The firing line trench exploded in gore and stone. William heard the shouts for priests and potions but had to hold himself from going there as a shapeshifting cloud of snow and fog manifested itself right in front of his party. Its form changing from animal to every race known like shifting sand, William was mesmerized for a second before Saa'ryu slapped in his arms.
"Focus Lu!" the maid screamed as she went invisible and began slashing the Greater Wraith.
William summoned 50 percent of his iron reserves and conjured a thick wall. Slamming the thing on the ground as the Greater Wraith charged another Sonic Boom.
Zulihee planted her staff behind William and muttered words fast as a rapper as she began throwing vials in the ground around them. Just as the Greater Wraith was about to cast the damn spell a dome dark as the void popped into existence. Saa'ryu reappeared and asked, "How do we kill that thing?!"
Veronica spoke "Destroy the core, Greater Wraiths can't remain whole without a core, unlike their smaller brethren. Can any of you cast any spells that will hold the thing in place?"
Saa'ryu nodded "Then Zulihee and Saa'ryu are in charge of stopping the bastard. Me the Princess and the Duchess will need to alpha strike it to break its Ice shell and destroy the core" Veronica gave the orders as the bubble went down.
"Aye aye, Cap'n" William said with a smile on his face, he had the perfect spell for this.
Zulihee bolted to the creature's left side and slammed her palms in the ground. Great chains made out of Elemental lava came from the shockwave and melted into the Greater Wraith's body as it screamed and cast spears of ice and hail blasts.
Zulihee smirked and simply made a hand gesture, sending the projectiles far away to the side.
Saa'ryu went to the right side and began casting a big spell. William could feel the mana she was gathering just above her head as the woman made hand gestures and spoke in a language he couldn't understand.
A spectral tree appeared on top of Saa'ryu as she made a pushing motion forward. The spectral tree slammed into the Greater Wraith as it roared in fury trying to move.
"Now!" Veronica screamed as she floated upwards and pulled her sword. The blade was coated in green Ki was so strong William could feel the pressure from the ground, she gripped the handle with both hands and more Ki was poured into the thing. William was surprised the metal didn't give in.
Emilya screamed another war cry and he felt the world sharpen around him as everything went slow-mo. She was buffing them with time magic! Haste was the pinnacle of any mage build in the game.
He heard, in this hyper-focused state he was in Erwin scream fire as the bullets zipped past him and his party straight into the Greater Wraith upper body, denting its Ice armor.
Zulihee grabbed her staff and just pointed the glowing end at where the core supposedly was. A white beam flashed in William's eye and even with Haste applied on himself, he could barely follow it.
"All-Father above, Doom Ray!" Lucrezia screamed in his mind, William smirked as he recalled the spell's mechanics that could one-shot anything short of the end game bosses due to its sheer potency. That without adding any element to it which William could see that Zulihee had added both fire and light aspected mana into the spell burning a hole big enough for the rest of the party to see the core.
A diamond made out of ice and frost stood at the center of the Greater Wraith. Emilya screamed again and leaped forward as she took her sword-staff and lobbed the damn thing at the core. In a flash, the weapon became a mighty thunderbolt that zipped across the Core, went outside, and looped back for another strike at it. Alas, the Core remained the whole albeit with a nasty crack right in the middle of it.
Zulihee, who was keeping the chains stuck, screamed "Thirty seconds! the ray took too much of my reserves!"
Veronica nodded and with a mighty slash downwards sent a shockwave that looked like a half-moon straight into the core. The thing stuck there for a good 10 seconds before dissipating and the core was still whole but the crack had grown wilder.
The Greater Wraith roared again and tried to shake itself off from its bindings as William began pouring every single flask of Iron he had from himself. Together with the Iron wall, he had made earlier he raised his right hand and folded it into the sphere of Iron as he began shaping it into a mighty drill. As his mana reserves began to bottom out he screamed for aid from the Spirits who in their Regalia form channeled mana into his body.
The cold felt ancient, older than the stars and the very ground William was standing on. But the boost worked as he made an upwards motion with his left arm and with his right arm began spinning the Iron Drill.
With a raw scream and the rest of his mana both his own and borrowed from the Spirits, he threw the Spinning Drill at the Greater Wraith, using the rest of magic to keep the thing rotating at high speeds and flying straight for the core.
The drill slammed into the core as it began rotating faster and faster, William went on his knees as he could feel his last motes of mana leaving his body and even the fumes going out as well. He heard the core break and the Wraith wail in pain for one last time before blacking out in the snow.
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The snowstorm raged outside as a raven rested itself near the bedpost, it watched as people came and went out of the room to check on the young woman who was sleeping in the bed. Sometimes she would half scream half mumble names and places no one could understand. The raven watched as someone it knew walked inside and stared at it, the man kneeled without speaking a word and then got up.
He cast several miracles on her. Checking for any leftover side effects. Finding nothing he did a small bow and left the room.
"Forgive me little one, it was my duty to aid you and I failed you when you needed the most" A soft voice came out of the bird as it sighed "My Divine brethren are starting to take notice of you. They know something is up and some did not want me aiding you" the raven flew down and touched its beak on Lucrezia's head "I am not strong enough to fight them head-on, But it is my hope that you will deliver me that power and together we will thrive against those who conspire against us."
"When the Blessing day is nigh, thou shall know great power mortal. Heavens and Earth will all think twice before crossing you and I...We will be there for you" As the raven finished speaking, more forms appeared beside it. A gear made out of crystal and steel. A small dragon with rainbow scales. A crimson rose without thorns. An ax and shield and finally the lone spear made out of wrought iron.
They all touched Lucrezia's head as she grew more and more relaxed. One by one they left until only the gear and the raven were there as they stood to watch their mortal charge.
More people came and went, at first they were scared but the raven gave them an explanation. After what felt like hours a sudden gust of wind opened the door, yet no living being entered the room. Instead, they were faced with a floating suit of armor. The Winter Spirit in charge of defending Wulfgrem.
"Children of the conqueror. How is the oath bearer?"
The raven spoke "She's besieged by nightmares, trauma from her deeds"
The armor hovered closer and stood watching for minutes "The duty is not for those feeble of heart and mind. But I must confess that someone so young should not be in charge of it" It stayed silent for a while then spoke again "My kin apologizes for putting her at risk, her spell demanded far greater energy than what we were expecting It did destroy the Scorned in the end but at...Grave costs"
The armor left as swiftly as it came. Velkarius from her realm was taken aback for never in her godhood she had heard about Spirits apologizing for their mistakes. Proud and stuck in their ways as they were, which only meant one thing.
They were emotionally invested in Lucrezia. It was rare, yes but such tales pop from time to time. Whenever they think a mortal can help them achieve something related to the lost civilization that lived alongside them. Velkarius herself had a passing interest in them, for why would such an advanced and thriving civilization lose favor from their creator Goddess and be abandoned?
Brushing her hobbies aside she focused on the storm via her raven. Just another week Velkarius thought to herself, in a week the girl who was now sleeping like a newborn infant would rise above mortal ken with her Blessing and set the greatest wrong of generations right in the fields of battle. Nevermind the fact her sphere grew by the day or that Uumaries and her people were scrambling to swipe their dirty below carpet.
Lucrezia would put them all to the sword, and until she lived nobles would whisper her name in fear.
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One, two, three, four
Can you tell a wish from a spell?
A hug from a lie?
They both make you feel so gone
We warned you from harm again
You're beating hearts again
We made love in June,
I heard it from you
You were my best friend
You used my name
Hit hard with harm,
She loves to off you then yawn
Never disarm, you know she loves to be drawn
You're leaching hard friend
I'm feeling down again
We made love with a few,
I took it from you
You were my worst friend,
I felt that way
Braiding her hair,
You can tell her from here
Drink her last tear,
Yeah, you die for your dear
Bad vibes around her,
She's eating hearts again
We made love in June,
I heard it from you
You were my best friend
You used my name
William stared at the window of the car as he drove down the highway. Heading nowhere, all he wanted was to run away. The song kept playing as he moved to turn off the radio only for a hand to swat his own from the thing.
"I'm listening to the song Terran, don't be rude" the young woman told him as she tied her long ashen hair on a ponytail. Her azure eyes mesmerized William as he nearly sent the car headfirst into a truck that blared its horns at him.
"Eyes on the road you silly man, you can stare as long as you like once we get home" she laughed as they sped past the truck. William frowned and asked the young woman.
"Where is home?"
The young woman laughed as she changed radio stations, news about the war again which bummed William out but if she wanted to hear it then he couldn't say anything. It was clear she was the one in charge of this and he was the stooge. He didn't miss her suggestive tone and licked his lips in anticipation for when he got home.
Yet the highway showed no sign of ending as they drove into the sunset. As twilight came he finally arrived at his exit and drove the car into a bumpy road that took them over a hill with no trees on it. As William drove he noticed his hands were pale. As if he had never seen a day under California's sun in the summer.
As he turned to the side he saw himself, a perfect copy of his entire being sitting staring at the view from the window with a smile on his lips. He opened his mouth to speak and he saw his face in the rear mirror.
Azure eyes stared at him, their beauty mesmerizing him once again. He saw his hair, now ashen tied in a ponytail bobbing with the bumpy road. They got to the top of the hill as William saw a huge castle made out of white marble and his lookalike spoke in his own voice "Ah finally! Home Sweet Home!"
William once again blacked out and prayed to whatever god was watching him right now to grant better dreams.
He would learn later to not tempt fate with such requests.